By Stephanie Holland
While the country of Saint Lucia is probably still celebrating Julien Alfred’s victory in the women’s 100 meters race at the 2024 Paris Olympics, some unexpected procedural changes before the contest have added an air of controversy to the event.
Viewers were shocked when Jamaican sprinting legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was scratched from her semi-final moments before it was set to begin. According to USA Today, Jamaican chef de mission Ian Kelly explained that the three-time Olympic gold medalist “was injured after a delay getting into the stadium.”
While Kelly didn’t reveal details on Fraser-Pryce’s injury, online speculation centered on a rumor that the Jamaican star, as well as American 100 meter silver medalist Sha’Carri Richardson, couldn’t get into the athletes’ warm up area at Stade de France, Paris. A video posted online appears to show the two Olympians being delayed as they try to enter the stadium where Track and Field is being held.
“She said they changed the rule yesterday,” Fraser-Pryce says in the video as she talks to colleagues in a bus. “How you going to change the rule and then not say? So you’re asking all the athletes who, for whatever reason, don’t stay in the [Olympic] village, they can’t come through the gate? We came through this gate yesterday and went through security and it was OK. They want us to go all the way up to where everybody is exiting … that’s crazy!”